1Cupplus 1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder, high quality
2teaspoonsKosher salt
1Cup2 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
1 ⅓Cupssugar, plus more for rolling the cookies in
2large egg yolks
2Tablespoonsheavy cream
2Teaspoonsvanilla extract
Chocolate and Vanilla Bean Ganache: (Adapted from a different Martha recipe.)
This makes a perfect amount of ganache for the cookies
½Cuphoney
½Cupheavy cream
1whole vanilla bean, split and scraped
5ouncesbittersweet chocolate
3Tablespoonsunsalted butter, room temp and cut into pieces
Instructions
Sift flour and cocoa powder.
In a stand mixer (or in a large bowl with a hand mixer), mix together your butter and sugar. Cream these two things together until they are light and fluffy – about 4 minutes. Then add your vanilla, egg yolks, and cream.
Turn the mixer down to low and slowly add dry ingredients. Mix it just until everything is combined. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl, but don’t over mix it.
Measure 1 tablespoon-sized balls of dough. Roll each ball of dough in sugar to give it some nice texture.
Lay out these balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Using the back of a metal spoon, make a thumbprint in each cookie.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Rotate the pans halfway through for even baking.
When you take the cookies out, they may have puffed a bit during baking. If that happens, take your divet-creating device and softly press back into the cookies, reforming the thumbprint. This is another reason why you wouldn’t want to use your actual thumb.
For ganache, combine honey, cream and vanilla bean in a small saucepan. If using extract instead of beans, use approximately ½ Teaspoon.
Bring these ingredients to a simmer in a pot and make sure to stir them to dissolve the honey. Once everything is dissolved, take the pan off the heat and let it sit for 20 minutes to let the vanilla get infused. No need to wait if you are using extract.
Roughly chop up chocolate and add it to mixing bowl.
If you left your cream mixture to rest for 20 minutes, bring it back to a simmer over medium heat (be careful not to burn the cream). Pour the hot cream mixture over the chocolate.
Let it sit for a minute to start melting the chocolate and then mix on medium speed until everything is melted and combined.
While the mixer is running on medium, add in butter, a few chunks at a time. Keep mixing for a few more minutes until the mixture is slightly cooled. It will be very silky and smooth and have the consistency of a loose frosting.
Spoon that mixture into thumbprint cookies.
Let them sit at room temperature and the ganache will firm up even more. It will end up getting pretty thick.